by Chris Goodall
chris@carboncommentary.com
Source: Carbon Commentary newsletter
This is a weekly newsletter about low-carbon energy generation and efficiency. I summarise the blog posts I have published during the previous week and comment on news stories that have interested me in the last few days. Subscribe at www.carboncommentary.com. |
4, Large scale battery storage. Grid storage in ten years might not be dominated by lithium ion technologies. The vanadium flow battery company Invinity has made major progress this year. Its storage units don’t require huge factories to make, are completely safe and don’t deteriorate, even after thousands of charging cycles. However they are currently significantly more expensive than lithium ion installations and have a lower efficiency per cycle. Nevertheless, two recent contract wins suggest that some customers value the reliability and longevity of the technology. In South Australia, the world’s largest vanadium flow battery will be commissioned in the next year, providing 8MWh of storage of electricity from a solar farm. In Scotland, a much smaller battery will store electricity from a PV array at a wastewater treatment plant. Invinity’s share price – up fivefold since May – reflects the surprisingly rapid progress the company has made this year. (Thanks to Andrew Wainwright).
5, The deflation of a carbon bubble in oil rigs. Many offshore oil rigs are standing idle and will be scrapped. One financial assessment of the value of the world’s stock of this equipment suggested that the overall value declined by over 40% in the past year, falling from $73bn to under $43bn. Of course there are reasons for this collapse other than the slow switch away from oil but this is an illustration of how costly a carbon bubble can be. 10 year old rigs that cost $600m to build are now sometimes sold for scrap for $6m.
6, Ammonia fuel cells for ships. A Norwegian offshore supply vessel will be the first in the world to travel long distances using an ammonia fuel cell. The ship currently uses LNG and will switch to being 90% powered by ammonia in 2024. The fuel cell will provide 2 MW of power, the maximum currently available. Large ocean-going ships will need far larger cells, a substantial technical challenge. Separately, a different consortium, involving Shell and Norwegian companies is planning to set up a hydrogen supply chain and bid for the rights to operate a ferry service across a wide fjord in northern Norway.
7, Another carbon bubble. A 10 year old Australian power station that cost US$900m was written down in the books of two of its owners to a zero valuation. This is the newest coal-fired power station in the country but its economics have been derailed by rising solar penetration and, perhaps more importantly, but the withdrawal of bank lending to its key coal supplier. The problems at Bluewaters power station appear to be one of the reasons the Australian government has begun to aggressive pressure banks to re-open their lending lines to the coal sector.
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